The Mavi Marmara, Lead Vessel in the Freedom Flotilla, Attacked in International Waters by Israeli Commandos on May 31st

On the 65th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Obama Administration continues to expand the nuclear weapons race into outer space; also, we’ll speak to three leading US figures in the movement to break the economic boycott on Gaza; and we’ll have an update on the decision by Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean to run for president of Haiti.
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We’ll have a report from Beirut, Lebanon, on the deadly face-off between Lebanese and Israeli forces at the tense border between the two countries; we’ll also talk about the reconstruction of Southern Lebanon on the fourth anniversary of the massive Israeli air attack on the country; we’ll feature a special report on the recent Israeli air strikes against Gaza; and we’ll have a special report from Dahr Jamail on the expanding cover up by the United States and BP of the worst oil disaster in modern history.

This is the video from which we played the audio during today’s Up Front.

With a bloody raid on the “Freedom Flotilla,” Israel has demonstrated, once again, its willingness to kill innocents in order to sustain its punishing blockade on the Gaza strip, even when doing so raises more and more questions about nuclear-armed Israel’s national sanity.

Scholar Norman Finkelstein, author of a new book on Israel’s 2008-09 assault on Gaza entitled “This Time We’ve Gone Too Far,” deemed the attack on the six ships in international waters that left nine people dead Monday the actions of a “demented… lunatic state.”Read the rest of this entry →

We’ll speak with an activist on board the Rachel Corrie, now 80 miles off the Gaza shore, and preparing to enter Gaza early Saturday morning; also, we’ll have a report on the border patrol beating death of a Mexican national on the US-Mexico border; we’ll also have an update on activities planned for the return of Gaza activists who were kidnapped and beaten on the last Gaza boat; and on Flashpoints en Espanol we’ll also report on the beating death on the border; and we’ll also feature Up Front with Jesse Strauss.

A survivor of the Israeli commando attack on the main boat of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla contradicts all of Israel’s claims about their bloody attack; also, we’ll speak to our special correspondent Nora Barrows-Friedman about the implications of the recent attack, and we’ll hear an excerpt of a debate between Jeremy Scahill and former New York City Mayor Ed Koch; also, we’ll speak to Antonia Juhasz about her recent tour on the Gulf arrest for criminal trespassing at a Chevron plant; and on Community Business with Catherine Austin Fitts we’ll talk about the impending devastation of the BP under-water gusher; and our new daily feature follows: Up Front with Jesse Strauss.

An in-depth interview with Gaza Freedom Flotilla organizer Huwaida Arraf from occupied Palestine; Arraf was on one of the seized boats and was then left after being interrogated in Israel on the side of the road, semi-conscious; we’ll also speak with Cindy Corrie, whose daughter was run over by an Israeli bulldozer and murdered in the Gaza Strip; one of the flotilla boats now on the way is named the Rachel Corrie, after her daughter; we’ll also speak with Allan Nairn about the legalization of murder by US and Israeli forces; and we’ll speak to the wife of a Bay Area resident who was also seized and beaten by Israeli commandos; finally, we’ll present a daily short news feature called ‘Up Front with Jesse Strauss’.

We continue our drum-beat reporting on the deadly Israeli commando raid that left at least ten Free Gaza activists dead and dozens wounded; we’ll speak to a lead organizer of the Free Gaza Movement in Washington DC; we’ll have a report of a live protest taking place at this hour at the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco; we’ll speak to long time anti-occupation activist and noted author Norman Finkelstein; and we’ll hear the second half of an interview with Ali Abunimah and our special correspondent in the Gaza Strip.

In dedication to the early morning attack on the Freedom Flotilla off the coast of Gaza, where at least 10 humanitarian activists were killed by Israeli commandos, we’ll speak to long time anti-occupation activist Adam Shapiro and UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories for the UNHCR, Richard Falk; we’ll also have a report from the Gaza strip and we’ll speak with Ali Abunimah.

Norman Finkelstein talks about his new book, This Time, We Went Too Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion, in which he documents the 2008-2009 massacres by the Israeli military and sets forth possibilities for redemption as the world’s conscience galvanized in outrage; also, British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, who joins Finkelstein in his speaking event this week in Berkeley, discusses the powerful blending of hip hop and activism, we’ll also hear some of his music; and a look back at the Kent State massacre forty years later as new testimonies reveal shocking details.

Ali Abunimah and university student organizers talk about last night’s vote at UC Berkeley to uphold the veto on divestment, we’ll discuss the technical defeat but the moral victory of the vote and the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions movement across the country and across the world; also, thousands of Oakland teachers go on strike to defend public education, we’ll hear voices from educators and students demanding fair contracts and salaries.

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Flashpoints is an award-winning daily investigative newsmagazine broadcast on the national Pacifica Radio network. Through original reports and some of the key investigative reporters of our time, Flashpoints goes to the frontlines and to the core of the stories in the areas of government and corporate criminality, human rights, and economic justice. From Baghdad to the US-Mexico border, Palestine to San Francisco, Port-au-Prince to Washington DC, Flashpoints monitors the centers of power as an uncensored platform of independent media.

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